"Riverdale" Recap Season 2 Episode 10: Betty's Brother Is Coming to Town

Each week, Teen Vogue will be taking you on a journey to Riverdale, a quaint little town hiding some very big secrets.

New year, new shenanigans in the little ol’ town of Riverdale. That’s how the saying goes, right? Well, anyway, Riverdale is back for 2018, and things are moving right along. But also, it’s still winter, for now (who knows, given how this show treats seasons?) and Jughead’s handy voiceover lets us know that Riverdale is just one of those towns where bad things keep happening. So, you're saying I should cancel that AirBNB, Juggy?

We quickly see that there’s a new normal for us to get used to: Cheryl’s mom is making money by keeping the lonely men of Riverdale company, which Cheryl isn’t thrilled about. Meanwhile Veronica is fully immersed in her parents’ schemes. She’s in charge of keeping her peers calm when “the news breaks.” What news? Oh, just the news that SSHS is closing and some South Side students are going to join RHS. Veronica tepidly tells everyone not to overreact, and no one in the student lounge does, but Cheryl and Reggie independently are not very happy about the news. Kevin, meanwhile, asks Betty if she’s ready for Jughead to come back, and she says she’s cool with it.

Over at SSHS, the student body is way more excited about the news — except Jughead, who looks contemplative and slightly pained (as he does 98% of the time). Mayor McCoy is also not super happy to hear from Weatherbee that the news is out, anticipating angry calls from parents, but the Lodges assuage her fears by reminding her that it’ll all blow over (after all, Hermione says, look how quickly everyone stopped talking about the Black Hood…) and then they’ll purchase the SSHS land and the mayor will get the donation to her re-election campaign.

After that eventful school day, Betty and Archie both have unexpected run-ins on their way home. Betty finds Polly packing up some things, only to discover that she had the twins and that the “leaders” at the farm think she should sever all ties with her family. She leaves without a backward glance and Betty is devastated — and keeps the visit from her mother. And an FBI agent (Agent Adams) pays Archie a visit to recruit him in the FBI’s Hiram Lodge investigation. Archie asks some great questions (basically, “I’m a teenager, what am I supposed to do?” and “Is this even legal?”) but Adams is adamant: Archie can help, first of all, by finding out how Nick St. Clair really got hurt after the St. Clairs and the Lodges dissolved their business relationship. Archie will think about it, and later when he finds out that his dad uncovered the source of the angel donation that paid his hospital bill (as Archie himself uncovered earlier that morning) and gave the Lodges 20% of Andrews Construction, which he’ll buy back later piece by piece, as repayment, he’s further distraught. He doesn’t want his dad getting more involved with the Lodge family.

Jughead, meanwhile, thinks there’s something fishy with this SSHS closing, but his rant about it to F.P. is interrupted by Betty, who wanted to meet with him. But she doesn't want to talk about how Jughead is coming back to RHS (though she’s happy about that) as he thinks, but to get his social worker’s digits — she wants to find her long lost brother to help her mom feel better about Polly. Betty should just officially change her name to Nancy Drew, don’tcha think? She later meets with the social worker, who reveals that Charles Smith, B’s bro, was in the foster system his whole life and turns over his last known address.

Archie’s doing some Nancy Drew-ing of his own, poking around the subject of the St. Clairs at dinner with the Lodges (though he’s really there to thank them for paying Fred’s hospital bill and to agree to be part of Veronica’s Southside Welcoming Committee in return). All he gets out of them is that the St. Clairs are no longer investors after what Nick did to Cheryl, and that they’ve severed all ties with their former friends — Hermione oh-so-casually mentions that they didn’t even call them after the accident. The Lodges all do a good job feigning ignorance about Nick’s wellbeing, but the interaction still keeps Archie up all night, staring at Agent Adams’ business card.

The next morning, the SSHS student stroll into RHS, only to be enthusiastically welcomed by Veronica, Archie, Kevin, and Josie and rudely rebuffed by Cheryl, Reggie, and some Vixens. A fight almost breaks out, but Weatherbee settles everyone down. Then Reggie quietly calls Veronica a traitor and Cheryl tells Archie that she knows about his kiss with Betty. Archie agrees to talk to her, and she throws out some light blackmail of the “I’ll tell Veronica about you and Betty smooching outside my house unless you get her on my side here” variety — but turns out Archie would rather talk about Nick, which is obviously upsetting to Cheryl. She doesn’t give a hoot about Nick’s injuries and how he got them, but does offhandedly mention that Archie must’ve been pleased, considering what Nick did to Veronica. Archie…did not know about that. Cue the #ArchieRageSpiral.

The Welcoming Committee is still being mightily welcoming in the student lounge (FYI, Fangs was tight with Joaquin, who used to talk about Kevin all the time, and Josie is still Just Josie, no Pussycats in sight), but the good feelings fade when Weatherbee rounds everyone up to show them the defaced RHS school seal — painted over with a snake. It’s pretty clear Reggie did it to frame the Serpents, but the Principal still bans all gang paraphernalia from school, including Serpent jackets and tattoos. Jughead is in his own rage spiral about being profiled like that, but Toni and Sweetpea are grateful to be at a better school, and don’t care if they have to take off their jackets for a few hours a day.

Over on Nancy Drew Lane, Betty does not get the warm reception she expected from her parents after revealing her snooping skills — though she later wakes up to find Alice sitting on the edge of her bed (creepy!), because Alice wants to see her son, but they can’t tell Hal about it. Next door, Archie's meeting with Agent Adams in the Andrews’s soundproofed garage, and reports what he knows in exchange for Fred’s protection. Archie is pretty sure that Nick’s accident wasn’t an accident, because of Nick’s assault of Veronica. Archie and Adams belabor the point of him needing a cover story to visit Nick (seriously, these two need Agent Betty Cooper on their case, stat), so Archie visits Cheryl and offers to get the St. Clairs to pony up some cash for her again, since she told him earlier that she regrets burning the hush money check (because she’s really not happy with her mother's new job).

So as Archie prepares to visit Nick in New York, over in Centerville, the Cooper women (minus Polly) are tracking Charles. The front desk dude at the Last Resort Hostel gives up Charles’ room number, but when Betty and Alice enter Charles’ room, he’s not exactly ready to welcome them with open arms. Chic snarks about how he drove by their house once — and how nice it must be for Betty to grow up there, and isn’t she lucky Alice wanted to keep her — before kicking them out because he’s expecting a client. Once they’re in the car, Alice breaks down in tears, and I feel for her here.

The Serpents, meanwhile, are still dealing with their not-exactly-warm welcome at RHS when Jughead refuses to take off his leather jacket — which means he’s suspended. F.P. later gives him a pep talk/lecture about how he needs to be smart — hibernate, like a serpent — because getting in trouble won’t help at all.

Archie isn’t around for any of this brewing trouble, because he’s busy intimidating Nick — whose legs are in casts — to get payback for Cheryl and Veronica. Nick is happy that Arch is only there for cash, and sticks to the official “I broke my legs skiing” story, before claiming that Archie’s in deep, Lodge-shark infested waters, and it’s only a matter of time before Veronica turns on him, too. So Archie loses his cool and beats Nick up, duh. This won't come back to haunt him at all.

At school the next day, Jug’s given in and is wearing his denim jacket — only to find Toni and Sweetpea wearing blue Polo t-shirts and khaki pants. They fill him in: these are new uniforms from Weatherbee (that were actually Veronica’s idea) to help the SSHS students fit in while throwing in some classist shade about how the Southside students don’t have enough money to buy Riverdale-appropriate clothing. Fangs wouldn’t wear the uniform, so he’s suspended for the day. Jughead is pissed…

…and so is Veronica, who reads a text Nick sent her about his freshly broken nose to Archie. Archie mentions Nick’s assault of Veronica, and she wants to know who spilled the beans. Cheryl comes in and ‘fesses up, and also takes responsibility for sending Archie to shake Nick down. She apologizes for betraying Veronica’s confidence, Archie apologizes too, and all is well — for a minute.

Over at the Coopers's, Betty forlornly stares at boxes of Polly’s stuff that her parents seem ready to give away, and when she sees her creepy plastic nightlight, she gets some kind of idea and marches out of the house…and right to the Last Resort Hostel, where finds Chic being brutally beat up by some guy. She pepper sprays the guy, grabs Chic and brings him home to be bandaged up by his family.

Veronica and Archie, meanwhile, are enjoying a meal at Pop’s, but V knows Archie is still hiding something from her. He comes clean — not about Agent Adams, but about his kiss with Betty. Veronica repeats “you and Betty kissed” about 100 different ways, but in the end, they’re OK, because Archie swears it was nothing.

I wonder if Jug will forgive as easily when he inevitably finds out about The Kiss. We shall see! But right now, he’s busy starting a Serpents & Swords club at school, which he sold to Weatherbee as a gaming club (like Dungeons & Dragons, but seriously, Weatherbee? Serpents is in the name!). This club won't draw that many parallels to Stranger Things, though; it will actually be a place for the Serpents to gather and lay low — together.

A gaming club sounds like the perfect cover, since Cheryl will probably never go near such a thing, and anyway she’s a little busy. After Cheryl cheerfully hands over Nick’s new check and tells Penelope to deposit it “in the bank, not the fireplace” (Madelaine Petsch continually nails Cheryl’s humor with her quippy line delivery) so that she can stop her “courtesan” lifestyle, she’s dismayed to hear that her mom has no plans to stop — she’s having too much fun.

Later that night, #Varchie cuddles in Archie’s room, and he asks why she didn’t tell him about the Nick incident. She says she felt foolish because she hadn’t seen Nick for who he really was, and swears that the only other person she told was Kevin. We know that’s not true, and it looks like Archie doesn’t quite believe her either…

...So he meets with Agent Adams and demands Veronica’s protection in addition to his dad’s — in writing — and Adams agrees. And then Archie asks one more thing: the agent has been following him for a while (yes), so he must know all about the Black Hood (yes)…so, in his professional opinion, did they get the right guy? Because Archie doesn’t think so. We don’t see Adams’ answer, but hey, I agree with Archie!

I’m pretty sure Betty would agree, too, but we may never know. Because Chic, who’s staying at the Cooper abode for now, is watching her sleep with a not-exactly-friendly look on his face, coming closer and closer and closer…until the episode ends.

Fingers crossed that Chic isn’t actually the Black Hood, I guess? We’ll see how that whole thing shakes out next week…hopefully.

Related: This Is What Happens When You Challenge the Stars of Riverdale to TRUTH OR DARE